8 March 2005
Abuja — The stepping down of Faure Gnasingbe, erstwhile interim President of Togo, who had in the last four weeks held on to power albeit unconstitutionally to succeed his late father is victory for governance in Africa.
It is also a victory for the nascent African Peer Review Mechanism, (APRM) - an instrument created by African Union (AU) through NEPAD to ensure that Governments in Africa embrace good governance through peer pressure and peer learning.
The unconstitutional drama in Togo had unsettled many African leaders, scholars,and the black race.Indeed many lovers of democracy were no less shocked that in this millennium and era of the flourishing of democratic norms, a group of people could still be attempting to create family dynasties or fiefdoms in such a brazen manner.
Togo had been a trail blazer of a sort. It was the harbinger of the first millitary coup-de-tat in Africa in 1963 and the father of the young adventurer, Late Gnasingbe Eyadema had the record of being the pivot of that infamous coup tradition, which soon spread to Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria and the rest. The young Faure, who was barely a year old when his father held the first successful coup, may have inherited the gene or you could say it is in the blood!
Perhaps, the young man wanted to become another trail blazer in starting a "Dynastocracy" if your permit the coinage which could be described as hybrid of democracy and monarchy. Because on a closer look, there was an ingenious but crooked attempt to create a new political culture described above. There was some element of constitutionality. The parliament actually amended their constitution to give a semblance of legal cloak to the installation of Eyadema's son to take over, and complete the term of his father, which but for the cold hands of death would have expired in 2008.
Now the man who was constitutionally required to take over, that is, the Speaker of the Parliament was possibly tricked out of the country to attend a meeting in Paris and pronto, the borders were closed . He was not able enter his country to claim "his mandate". The Togo military - such a clever lot you may say, then gave his absence as the reason for the installation of Faure as President.
The return to constitutionality in Togo therefore offers an opportunity to appraise the performance of the current leadership of African Union(AU) and ECOWAS in the search for good governance in Africa.
For once there is a ready evidence that the African Union has succeeded where its predecessor - the OAU has failed. The commitment of African Union to democratize Africa has been more than confirmed by the collective rejection of the unconstitutional change of government in Togo. In times past, African countries would have broken ranks either on the basis of common colonial heritage with the offending country or by some alliance But in this case, there was unanimity of action and purpose in rejecting the "coup" in Togo. The clever attempt to play on sentiment and draw out some ECOWAS members out of the collective decision to reject the Togo misadventure came to nought For instance the series of "prostration" at Aso Rock for Obasanjo, and the appeal to sentiments of his father friendship, or the attempt by a certain top military chief in Togo to play on his Yoruba ethnic affinity with the President did not move Nigerians position. Having failed to get Obasanjo to change his position, the desperate Togolese adventurers ran to Benin Republic and tried to bend President Kerekou who was a close pal of late Eyadema. That also failed. This is a very positive development.
This also brings us to the wisdom of African Union under the current leadership of President Obasanjo in instituting the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) as a way of ensuring that African countries keep to the various, political, social economic and Human right treaties and conventions. Almost all the countries of African Union adopted the "Declaration on Democracy, Political, Economic and Corporate Governance", yet there was the need for a mechanism to ensure that the AU member countries continue to adopt policies and practices that conform to that commitment.
According to the Base Document of APRM endorsed by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union at its 38th Ordinary Session on 8 July 8, 2002, in Durban, the "mandate of the African Peer Review Mechanism is to ensure that the policies and practices of participating states conform to the agreed political, economic and corporate governance values, codes and standards contained in the Declaration on Democracy, political, economic and corporate governance and the APRM is the mutually agreed instrument for self-monitoring by the participating member governments"
Although this mechanism is yet to take its full root as only 24 countries has agreed to participate in the process, the wisdom of using peer pressure to whip erring countries back on the path of constitutionality, democracy and good governance has been borne out by the latest return to democracy in Togo.
The role of ECOWAS in moving fast to impose sanctions on Togo should be applauded, as a most timely potent signal of the displeasure of Africans to Togo intransigence Here again, the leadership role of President Obasanjo in first imposing the sanctions, including recalling our Ambassador probably gave other countries who could have wavered no choice in the matter. They had to follow the lead
One more significant development on the matter was that,once ECOWAS and AU, had rejected the Togo misadventure, other world bodies and foreign nations kept away from meddling in the matter. In the times past, at least the former colonial master - France would have moved to shield its former territory by recognizing the new Government.All sorts of foreign countries would have been fraternising with one group or the other for a possible outbreak of war and in such an event such foreign countries would have picked fat accounts on war ammunition supplies!
So truly on this occasion African Governments were in charge of their affairs and the acclaimed African system of dialogue, constructive engagement or call it "carrot and stick" diplomacy was at work. It worked, at least in the matter of Togo. The signals must now be clear that Africa has come of age in its democratization journey. The time of infantile adventurism of all kinds of colouration- military coups or military backed civilian coups seems over.For good!
Ilori is of the Bureau for Public Opinion, Abuja
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